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I expected to see some of the title that appeared on the list of the 100 most frequently challenged books (1990-2000), but not all of them. Here's some of the 'duhs' and the unexpected.
The Giver by Lois Lowry [Isn't that a kid's book? Didn't I read that in 5th grade?]
For a long time I looked forward to summer reading. Rarely, in my high school career, have I been assigned a book not worthy of my time (the exceptions being Lance Armstrong's Every Second Counts and the cheese-ball 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens). Though every year, towards the closing days of summer, I begin to realize I still haven't made much progress in my assignments. Summer reading is a very stressful ritual. The intentions, of coarse, are admirable, but the project itself is the source of so much unnecessary worrying. I shouldn't complain because I did sign up for A.P. English 4 knowing that I'd have an easier time in the honors or standard classes, but this is my blog and I say what I want(!), even if my unhappiness is self imposed. If you think that finishing only two books in an entire summer vacation would not be very challenging, you'd be wrong. With mission trips, summer camps, and all the opportunity to spend this newly acquired leisure time to read books you've been meaning to get to for ages (along with the release of the long awaited Harry Potter 7), summer reading becomes very unappealing. With only a day and a half until school starts, I'm still not even close to being through. It's strange that a person who is so addicted to books waited to the last minute to complete her dream homework assignment: reading and journaling about truly amazing literature. Mrs. Sniderman's A.P. English students were instructed to read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and write a journal as well as reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster and responding to some questions that help us apply what we learned. I'm only half way through A Prayer for Owen Meany, a book that's quickly working it's way up in my favorites list (this list is in my head; I have no actual recorded favorites list). As much as I love the book, I'm having a hard time motivating myself to read. There's hardly any time left before homework takes over my life again so it's difficult to sit down and work on something with such a strong stench of school. It's also an incredibly long book. How to Read Literature Like a Professor was stimulating and even managed to be mildly entertaining. I can tell it'll be a very useful reference in my future English classes, but I could have skipped over half of the book because the questions I've been given only apply to about eight chapters. I know I'd be better off reading the whole book because, in concept, summer reading is not about the grade, it's about the learning. Grades often can get in the way of learning, but that's really not the point I'm trying to make here. I could have done half the work and still completed the questions with the same quality as I will not having skipped chapters. Maybe I'll be lucky and we'll have a pop quiz with the unassigned chapters on it and I'll know exactly how to respond while the kids who skipped those parts will be caught off guard and, therefore, not do as well as their fellow classmates who actually read every page. MWAH HA HA (my interpretation of an evil laugh). We were also assigned to read both Genesis, Exodus, and one of the Gospels in order to pick out symbolism in literature. I'm ashamed to admit I blew this part of my summer reading off completely--well maybe not completely, but for the most part. I feel confident in my knowledge of Exodus having staffed at a camp for elementary students where the Exodus was the week's main focus as well as having been a member of the 'Exodus' unit at Affirm (an ELCA week long camp). Genesis, I've read, but I have to admit it's been a while. As for the Gospels, although I've never read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John in their entirety, I'm fairly certain that I've read or came across all the stories at some point in my life. I'm not one to sit down and read the bible chapter by chapter. I like to skip around a lot--find stories that inspire me. Not to mention, five years of volunteering at Vacation Bible School can teach you a lot.
Summer reading that was fun for me:
That was a nice little break, but I should probably get back to work now. I don't think it's a coincidence this is significantly longer than my average post. I can't avoid finishing forever. Feel free to express your inevitable frustration with summer reading in the comments. There's no way I'm alone in this.
Amazon.com is my favorite place to shop for books. Th
Grand Total: $26.09
Not bad for seven books.
Just for fun, my current wish list includes...
You may have noticed the books still waiting to be bought are the more pricy ones.
*I've already read these books, but I want my own copy of them.
**Hasn't been released yet, but I can't wait!
***I'm waiting for this one to come out on paperback.
****I had this book, but I lost it.
I went to church last night to help set up for our annual spring garage sale and was shocked to find boxes and boxes full of books. I put off putting stickers on all the kids toys for a few minutes to do some browsing and I found fifteen books I wanted to take home. It ended up being only $9.00 for the whole bunch. (Paperbacks were $0.50 and hard covers were $1.00). Most of the books weren't in the best condition; they were old and smelly, but the words are still there. I really wish I would have had my camera last night because there was junk EVERYWHERE. When I walked inside, I thought, "Where did my church go?"
Here's what I bought...
I also bought these adorable little bird mugs for 10 cents each. (Our family is really into birds).
In other news, PHS Winter Drum Line is officially the 7th best drum line in the world! We went to Dayton last weekend for World Finals Competition. There were a lot of great groups there and it was really cool finally getting to compete with everybody. We also had about an hour long pillow fight on the bus ride home. (See my Myspace blog for details). That was fun too.
I got my ACT scores back from a couple weeks ago and my score went down two points from the first time I took it. How does that work?
I am also aware of the lack of reviews there's been lately. 100 Years of Solitude is a very long book. I was supposed to have it done Friday, but my teacher's changed the assignment so finishing the book is optional now. I do plan on finishing it, but I need a break. As much as I love the book, it gets too confusing to read in little spurts, which is all I've had time to do lately. I need to just sit down one day and read till there's no more pages. Until then, hello Interview with a Vampire!
In no particular order...
(1 ) Stephanie Meyer author of Twilight and New Moon- There's lots of fun stuff on this page. Step
e is an imitation of her desk, which is apparently cluttered with gum wrappers. Everything on the webpage comes straight from JKR herself, which I love. It's very personal. Not only that, but there are lots of fun hidden games. Put certain clues together from all over her site and you get rewarded with first drafts and even doodles of characters by Jo. (3) Augusten Burroughs author of Running with Scissors, Dry, Magical 
Thinking, Sellivision, and Possible Side Effects- Augusten Burroughs webpage mimics his books. It's hilarious. My favorite part is the blog, which, unfortunately, he only updates every couple months. (4) Meg Cabot author of the Princess Diaries Series, The Medi
ator Series, Avalon High, and lots more- I don't go here very often, mainly because I don't read much Meg Cabot these days, but I though I'd include it because it's a really great site. Her online diary is updated very frequently and includes pictures of Meg, which is always fun. Most of the words on the site are written by Meg- so it's a great place if your craving a laugh.
I may do a continuous series of these "Author Blogs and Websites." It's inevitable I find more authors with great sites.
I spend a lot of money at Borders. It's really a bad habit of mine. Today, however, I went and they were having the best sales ever. I never find books there under five dollars, especially not hardcovers. I bought:
2.)Jane Eyre $4.97 [Also a hardcover. I don't know much about Charlotte Brontë, but it was cheap so I figured why not?]
3.)Candida, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Man and Superman, and Ceasar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw $6.95 [I read one of his pieces in English about his mom being cremated and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd read since Green Eggs and Ham.]
4.) Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom $4.99 [This one was paperback, but it was the nice paperback, not the mass market version. I loved Tuesdays with Morrie, so I'm sure I'll like this one too.]
5.) Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs $4.99 [This one was a hardcover. Burroughs's (whom I highly recommend) books prices have really gone up since the Running with Scissors movie was made, so this was exciting]
Grand Total: $53.82
My grandmother's best friend loves to read too, and when gramma showed her my blog, she very kindly sent me some books to add to my collection. If you're reading this Anne, thank you very very much. I can't wait to devour them all. She sent me:
Here's a list of all the books I've read over the past year.
*rereads
THE FIRST PLACE PRIZE goes to Christopher Paolini's Eragon. This fantasy book defines 'over hype.' I couldn't even finish it. Aft
THE SECOND
THE THIRD PLACE PRIZE goes to Mark Haddon's The Curios Incident of the Dog and the Night-Time. I actually sort of kind of,
If you want summeries or maybe would like to read another person's (more positive) opinion check out Eragon, Artemous Fowl, or The Curious Incident of the Dog and the Night-Time at Amazon.com.
I was browsing amazon and found some more books to add to my already too long list. I'm not going to say why I want them individually, like I did before, because I want them all for the same reasons. The descriptions on amazon made me want to read them or they've been recommended to me by a friend/teacher.
Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
by Agatha Christie
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
by Diane Setterfield
One for the Money (A Stephanie Plum Novel)
by Janet Evanovich
Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
There's too many good books and not enough time to read them all.
I don't expect to get all of these. I don't expect to get half of these. My parents aren't big readers (so they don't really get it). :-)
note: I am in no way trying to ask any of you reading this to buy books for me. I just thought it'd make an interesting post.
In no particular order...
